I recently found out that when I cook I never taste, measure, nor set a timer so please bear with me, as my husband and I share some new, exciting, and creative Jamaican Dishes with you. So after saying all that, the amount of ingredients is based on the amount of folks you are entertaining. Imagine having fun while staying healthy…the new trend indeed. And yes…my dishes always turn out delicious. Yeah man.

Growing up on Cumberland Road, in Spanish Town, my siblings and I loved to climb over the fence into Miss Amy’s yard for cherries, particularly Acerola also known as Barbados cherries. We would pretend that Miss Amy would come out from amongst the trees, with her frail, small frame and chase us. I sometimes though she did, just to add a little excitement to our adventure. She was such a kind old lady. The thing was we did not need to climb over her fence for cherries, seeing that we had one such tree in our own front yard. The cherries were easy to pick and were very sweet with a flowery flavor and were juicy. The tree seemed to always have cherries on it and another thing I noticed, a cherry will ripen by the end of the day. That amazed me back then, but little did I know how much nutrients one of the cherries have. One Acerola cherry has 65 times more vitamin C than an orange. This is one of the reasons why we never had the flu growing up, because the vitamin C content is about the daily minimum requirement for the body. Below is a list of reasons to plant one of these trees or cook with the cherries and why some companies are using the Acerola cherry in baby food.

Health Benefits; due to such high vitamin C content the cherry can help with the following:

Boast immune system

Strengthen Liver

Assist your body with tissue repair

Hair loss

Improve mood, due to high amount of potassium

Heart

Blood pressure

Dental issues

Infections

Improve skin

Relieve headaches

It is also a valuable source of vitamin A and B, calcium, magnesium, folate, phosphorous, and contains antioxidants; carotenoids and flavonoids.

Pick-A-Cherry Tropical Garnish Recipe

Ingredients:1 ½ cups of Acerola or Barbados Cherries3 berries of Jamaican Pimento2 tablespoons of Cilantro4 Cloves of Garlic½ -1 Scotch Bonnet Pepper (use a green one; very hot pepper; use seed at own risk)¼ cup Olive Oil1 LimeA pinch of salt and black pepperPreparation:Chop cilantroMince pepper and garlicCrush cherries in a bowl using a potato masherThen remove the cherry seeds and stemsPour off excess juice in a bowl and chop up cherriesMix all ingredients together…including the juice from the cherriesAdd 3 berries of Jamaican pimento to mixtureDo the taste test and add salt and pepper to your liking

This recipe serves three.

Result:

I must say this was very mouth-watering for me; I kept going back for more. First, I got a rush of cilantro and lime with the flowery taste of the cherries; then I felt the hot pepper tingling the sides of my tongue, and then came the garlic which put a smile on my face. Eating it with corn chips added a sweet after taste, and avocado will create a calming effect if too spicy for some folks. I think this one was a success!

A Plus

Easy to prepareCan be used in place of tomatoesGoes very well with rum, beer, and wineGoes well with steak, pork chops, shrimp, and chipsNo cooking involvedNatural ingredientsExcellent source of daily nutrition

Here it is used over grilled steaks:

Here it is used as a dip with corn chips:

Here blended as a juice:

If you need any information on planting a tree please feel free to contact me. We planted a tree and enjoy using the cherries…our miracle tree…it has survived hurricanes and freezes.

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About Sheryl Stark

Hi my name is Sheryl. I am a Humanitarian, Blogger, and a gardener. I love all music, but reggae more so. I cannot tell you everything about me here, so follow me on facebook: http://facebook.com/sheryl.stark
and on twitter @givingirl. One Love.